Message fromDirector, Directorate General of Training & Research, Karachi

Twenty Six January is celebrated as International Customs Day by the Customs fraternity all over the world, to re-enforce the common goals and objectives, set by World Customs Organisation. For the year 2011, the theme for World Customs day has been declared to be "knowledge - a catalyst for Customs excellence."
It is generally known that, where there is commerce, there is customs. In this world, cross-border trade and commerce has become a most potent player in the integration of the modern world. The role of the customs apart from revenue collection, is that of an agency which oversees trans-border movements of all kinds of materials, commodities and products.
It is deemed not only as a guardian of economic frontiers of a country, but also as a guarantor of safety against all possible risks, eg influx/export of drugs, bacterial invasions, bio chemical and chemical threats, materials jeopardising our moral, religious and social values, biological weapons, the risks of dual technology movement of mechanical products used in various technologies including nuclear technology violation of copy rights, goods threatening socio-economic and agricultural interests of the country.
The Customs has an undeniable role, in the identification and investigation of economic crimes like money laundering issues, capital flight, transfer pricing etc. All these objectives have necessitated that the Customs may derive its strength from highly specialised knowledge in all these domains and its administration need to be equipped with most current knowledge and updated technical skills in order to cope with its exceedingly sensitive responsibilities. Hence acquisition of sufficient knowledge in fields of law, public finance, chemistry, biology engineering, nuclear technology and other related disciplines is the prime requirement to achieve excellence in customs performance.
It is matter of great pride that the Directorate General of Customs training Karachi and its sub-Directorates in Islamabad and Lahore, which is the only institution in the country, for imparting customs related training, both at national and international level, has also established itself as centre of dissemination of knowledge, requisite for the customs operations in current time subjects. Diverse courses, workshops and seminars on Containers control programmes by UNODC, Valuation techniques and portals, Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreements, current commercial practices, investigative techniques commercial frauds and money laundering, communication skill developments, informatics etc, are being impressively arranged by this institution. It speaks of the capability of the DGTR, to become a future hub of learning and training for customs administrations of this region. This is our cherished goal for the coming days and a dream, which shall certainly materialise one day.